1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mining data from Internet users while preserving the privacy of the users.
2. Description of the Related Art
The explosive progress in computer networking, data storage, and processor speed has led to the creation of very large data bases that record enormous amounts of transactional information, including Web-based transactional information. Data mining techniques can then be used to discover valuable, non-obvious information from large databases.
Not surprisingly, many Web users do not wish to have every detail of every transaction recorded. Instead, many Web users prefer to maintain considerable privacy. Accordingly, a Web user might choose not to give certain information during a transaction, such as income, age, number of children, and so on.
It happens, however, that data mining of Web user information is not only useful to, e.g., marketing companies, but it is also useful in better serving Web users. For instance, data mining might reveal that people of a certain age in a certain income bracket might prefer particular types of vehicles, and generally not prefer other types. Consequently, by knowing the age and income bracket of a particular user, an automobile sales Web page can be presented that lists the likely vehicles of choice to the user, before other types of vehicles, thereby making the shopping experience more relevant and efficient for the user. Indeed, with the above in mind it will be appreciated that data mining makes possible the filtering of data to weed out unwanted information, as well as improving search results with less effort. Nonetheless, data mining used to improve Web service to a user requires information that the user might not want to share.
As recognized herein, the primary task of data mining is the development of models about aggregated data. Accordingly, the present invention understands that it is possible to develop accurate models without access to precise information in individual data records. Surveys of Web users indicate that the majority of users, while expressing concerns about privacy, would willingly divulge useful information about themselves if privacy measures were implemented, thereby facilitating the gathering of data and mining of useful information. The present invention has carefully considered the above considerations and has addressed the noted problems.